The widespread diffusion of this seemingly coherent sentence has turned it into a kind of aphorism that is proposed as a guideline in science or art.
An advertising phrase from the automobile industry, “one look is worth a thousand words”, led Fred Barnard to publish an article in 1921 praising the effectiveness of illustration in advertising, entitled One picture is worth a thousand words, in which he attributes the phrase to Confucius, perhaps to give it more credibility.
Advertising origin of the aphorism and F. R. Barnard’s advertisement in 1927.